Suicide attempt wounds another in Clifton home

A suicidal Clifton man shot himself in the chest Wednesday night and the bullet exited his back, striking a woman inside a home where deputies also found two children and an arsenal of firearms and ammunition, a Mesa County Sheriff’s Department deputy wrote in a search warrant affidavit.

Michael Sexton, 31, was wounded in the left lung at 3304 Delicious Drive. The affidavit says Crystal Mannon, 30, was struck by the errant round shortly before 6 p.m. Neither was listed Thursday in public patient directories at local hospitals. Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Heather Benjamin said she didn’t know their conditions.

There were no arrests in the case as of Thursday, she said.

The Sheriff’s Department has said deputies responded about 5:25 p.m. on a report of a suicidal man. As they approached, they heard a single gunshot before a wounded man and woman exited the front door.

The lease holder of the house, Colin Williams, 35, was also home at the time as well as a boy and girl, ages 10 and 14. None was injured.

Mannon told deputies Wednesday night that she was breaking off a relationship with Williams and was moving out of the home.

Deputies, who obtained consent to search the home, found an open gun safe “in plain view” which held two handguns: a .22-caliber revolver and a “Master Piece Arms” 9 mm machine pistol, the affidavit said. Deputies also observed boxes of ammunition for the pistol and bullets for an AR-15 assault rifle.

The assault rifle also was found inside the bedroom.

Deputies, who ran a check of Williams’ background, learned he was convicted of felony trespassing in 2003 and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 2000. Felons are prohibited from owning firearms within 10 years of a conviction.

The search warrant also noted that Christopher Stubblefield, 31, was also “on scene” at the Delicious Drive home, although the document doesn’t indicate whether he was living at the Clifton home or visiting. Stubblefield is identified in the document as the brother of Mannon, the woman wounded.

The Grand Junction Police Department last week released a notice indicating Stubblefield—a state-labeled sexually violent predator with multiple prior convictions against children in Mesa County—had moved into the Rescue Mission, 550 South Ave., after being released from parole supervision on Jan. 27.

Police spokeswoman Kate Porras said detectives don’t believe Stubblefield was living at the Clifton home based on information provided Thursday by the Rescue Mission.

Porras said police are required to independently confirm Stubblefield’s whereabouts on a quarterly basis. In his case, they’ve confirmed his residence “multiple times a month,” she said.